Under The Night Sky
by 11Greenlight11
Summary: [AU] In search of his brother Hao who left home 5 years ago, Yoh arrives at Tokyo. Would he be able to find him, or more importantly, stop his wrongdoings?
1. Chapter 1  My Saviour

"Stop! Go away, please!" A pink-haired girl of fourteen cried out. She sank to her knees, with her thin and trembling body pressed against the wall behind her.

"Tamamura Tamao, second grade." A long-haired boy snorted as his dark eyes narrowed down on her. "Hmph! Merely a wimp."

Tamao buried her face in her arms, her whole body shaking so much that she could hardly control herself.

Suddenly, the boy grabbed her by the collar and pulled her up onto her feet. With his left hand, he slapped her teary cheek and slammed her hard onto the wall with his other hand.

"This," he spat, "is what you get for embarrassing my girlfriend in class."

Turning, he said with a malicious smile, "I leave the rest up to you, guys." With that, he left, with his long brown hair swirling in the air.

"No problem at all, Hao-sama!" A fat but muscular guy wearing round sunglasses walked towards Tamao.

"Be quick about it. There's no point in wasting time on a wimp like her." Another of Hao's guys growled.

"You are right." The fat guy smirked as he readied his fist and prepared to hit her.

Tamao continued to sob. She wanted to scream for help, but her throat was dry and she could hardly produce a sound from it. Her limp body remained on the ground as she raised her thin arms to brace herself for the punch.

But it never came.

Surprised, she looked up to see a brown-haired boy standing before her. He had blocked the punch for her and for the first time in her life, someone had actually stood up for her.

"Don't hurt her, or you will regret it." The boy's tone was full of anger.

Despite her relief, Tamao could not help but notice that his voice sounded like Hao's.

The other guys must have felt the same way as they quickly retreated.

"Wasn't that Hao-sama? But why?" Tamao distinctly heard one of the guys cry out as he scrambled away.

Turning, her saviour grinned at her. "Are you alright?" he asked, his tone cheerful and pleasant.

Through her tears, Tamao let out a smile.

"Thank you..." she whispered. Even though his voice resembled that of the school's biggest bully, she could feel his warmth and that comforted her more than anything else.

The boy seated himself down beside her.

"So, what happened? Why were they beating you up?" He asked, his voice full of concern.

Tamao turned to study him properly. He had shoulder length brown hair and a bright orange headphone on his head. With warm

eyes and a friendly smile, he seemed to be a nice person. However, his features bore a striking resemblance to Hao.

The pink-haired girl decided to answer his question first.

"It was like this... Hao, the biggest bully in Funbari High, has a girlfriend who is in my class. She is very smart and attractive and she is always top in everything. Only..."

Tamao paused. "I beat her in yesterday's History test and so she lost her pride as History was always her favourite subject. And when Hao found out about it..." Tamao stopped, not wanting to continue.

"I see." The boy replied calmly. "Who is this Hao anyway?"

"His full name is Asakura Hao, and he is about my age. But he is a genius, so he is currently studying two years ahead of me. And he..." Tamao paused again.

The boy was looking away and seemed to be deep in thought.

Tamao hesitated.

"What's wrong?" The boy finally asked, as though he had suddenly awoken from a trance.

"He... he looks exactly like you." Tamao finally mumbled out the statement that had been in her mind from the first moment that she saw him.

The boys eyes widened. His expression, which was normally cheerful, had darkened considerably as he looked away.

"So it was really him." He whispered.

"Who are you anyway?" Tamao asked, not hearing his comment.

"Me? My name is Yoh, and I am new here. I will be studying at Funbari High from tomorrow onwards, and I would be in the second grade. What about you?" Yoh had quickly regained his cheerful tone.

Tamao blushed slightly. "Sorry if I was rude just now, Yoh. I was afraid because you looked like him. Anyway, my name is Tamamura Tamao. I am pleased to meet you and thank you for saving me!"

Yoh laughed, her cheerful voice brightening the atmosphere. "There's really no need to be so formal, Tamao. I just don't like it when stronger people bully others. Besides, we are friends now, aren't we?" He grinned at her.

Tamao blushed again, this time with a darker shade of red. "Friends?" She stuttered. "Thank you, Yoh, thank you!"

Yoh laughed again as he got up. "Let's go, it is getting late."

As she walked along with him down the street, Tamao felt happy and relaxed for the first time in a long while.

_He is so kind and cheerful, I feel so happy when I am with him. He helped me so readily; it was the first time anyone did something like this for me. And he actually called me a "friend" too! Maybe this is what having a true friend is really like..._

**Note**: Not being a Japanese, I am unfamiliar about the school or education system in Japan. In my country students normally study for four years in a secondary school after completing six years of the primary level. Thus, by "second grade", I was referring to the second year of the secondary school. I hope that no misunderstandings would develop as a result of this.

Thank you for having read through this chapter. Should you have any comments, please drop a review and I would read it. If this chapter is well received, then I would continue with the story.


	2. Chapter 2  Anna

A thin wisp of smoke was blown into the air. A blond-haired girl was sitting down on a wooden crate with her back against the wall. She wore a tight leather jacket matched with a long, dangling necklace and a short miniskirt. With her legs crossed and her eyes shaded by a large pair of sunglasses, she was easily the most popular girl in the area.

She barely looked up as soft footsteps approached her. The girl continued to gaze at the opposite wall and blow puffs of smoke from her cigarette.

"Anna, the girl has been punished. My guys are at her right now." With a smirk on his face, he sat down next to her and placed an arm around her waist.

Kyouyama Anna merely sniffed in response. For a person who never studied for tests and exams, she did not care at all about how she fared in them. Her intelligence was enough to allow her to pass with flying colours, and she did not care to do better than that.

Tamao was actually a very kind girl who never said a bad thing about Anna despite her bad reputation in the class. Anna actually liked her, and she did not even agree to Hao's actions, which were presumably for _her_ sake.

Of course, she had never agreed to a single thing that Hao did. But despite her strong-willed character and her special ability to force anyone to follow her orders, she had remained powerless before the long-haired boy who was her boyfriend.

"What's wrong, Anna? Are you still worried about how your aunt will punish you about the stupid test?" Hao asked with a mocking tone.

Anna had always remained distant from Hao despite the fact that they were going out together. And as a result, she had buried her past with a long series of convincing lies.

"I don't care about how they think of me. I will do whatever I like, and you don't have to help me." She replied, annoyed at Hao's mockery.

Hao laughed, with his maniacal laughter chilling one to the bone.

"That's what I like about you, Anna. You always refuse my help, unlike those silly fan-girls all over the school."

He placed a gloved hand on her cheek and bent down to kiss her. Anna simply complied; she had no way of avoiding him.

"Hao-sama!"

To her relief, Anna saw Hao's guys running towards them.

"What is it?" Hao turned, his tone deadly cold.

The guys stopped dead in their tracks as Hao's glare pierced them.

"Haven't I told you never to disturb me whenever I am with Anna?" Hao looked angry. Anna simply looked away, cool and cold as always.

"Ha-hao-sama, we just wanted to ask... Why did you stop us from hitting the girl?" The fat guy asked, his voice shaking.

Hao's eyes widened.

The small alley was silent for a while.

"I stopped you, did I? I was here all along. Maybe your vision is the one which has a problem." Hao averted his gaze to the wall, his tone final.

The fat guy opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't.

"I-I guess so... Sorry, Hao-sama." The guys walked away slowly and hesitatingly.

Hao snorted. "What good-for-nothings. Ignore them, Anna. They won't disturb us again."

Anna frowned. Hao was obviously hiding something, but she did not dare to probe.

"Anyway, let's go and have a drink. Your aunt wouldn't mind, I supposed." Hao smirked.

Anna was silent.

Allowing Hao to hold her arm, she walked with him down the alley. She just didn't have a choice.

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Dozens of tiny pricks of light shone on the night sky, to be reflected on the pair of dark eyes that gazed ever so intently at them.

Yoh was lying down on the grass at the top of a hill next to an old graveyard. It was the only place in the crowded Funbarigaoka where he could gaze up into the night sky to see the multitude of stars that he loved so much.

As always, his mind started to wander back to a person who looked exactly like him and who loved stargazing as much as he did.

Five years ago, the two would always be lying down together under the night sky to gaze at the stars.

And that person was Asakura Yoh's twin brother, Asakura Hao.

Sighing, Yoh sat up. Leaning against a tree, he though about what Tamao had said that day.

"_Asakura Hao, the biggest bully in Funbari High..."_

Slowly, Yoh got up and started to make his way back home.

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Kyouyama Anna walked down a deserted street, alone. It was already way past midnight, and she was extremely fatigued and annoyed.

Hao wasn't in a good mood that night, and he had forced her to drink with him even though he knew that she didn't like it.

Much to her annoyance, she had developed a splitting headache while Hao remained calm and sober even after he had drunk countless cans of beer.

And all she got out of him was that he was upset by a person called Asakura Yoh.

Sullenly, she strode past rows of cosy little homes, casting cold glares at the friendly doors behind which warm people lived.

As she rounded a bend, however, she caught sight of a brown-haired boy who wore bright orange headphones. He had crossed the road and was stepping onto the pavement in front of her.

When he turned and noticed her, his lips curved upwards into a smile and he was about to say something when, prompted by a sudden impulse within her, she raised her hand and slapped him.

After piercing him with a cold glare, Anna walked past him and said, "You are blocking my way. Get lost."

She knew that she was being extremely rude and unfair to him, but she just hated it when other people were happy. Besides, the mere sight of his face brought to her mind memories of a person whom she hated most in the world, and she longed to scold him and to beat him up.

"W-wait!" The boy called after her.

Anna stopped. Turning, she shot him another cold glare.

"Asakura Yoh, stop minding other peoples' businesses. If you cross my path again, I will never forgive you."

With that, she walked off, leaving him gaping after her on the street.

_I hated everyone in the world. Everything they did only brought misery to me, and no one ever sought to understand me. No one..._


End file.
